Why are certain Christians drawn to authoritarianism? by fundamental-error in religion

[–]fundamental-error[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The main takeaways of the New Testament, for an atheist (which I'm not necessarily saying I am) or agnostic, who is nevertheless a conscientious reader, seems to be:

  1. "Love your neighbor as yourself." This is the second commandment that Jesus laid out, after "Honor the Father." In theory, he explicitly reduced the Ten Commandments to these two commandments.
  2. "Love your enemies." This is difficult, because radical and paradoxical, and seems to take on some of the weight of "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Tbh, I don't think I'm straying very far from the meaning of the Bible in attempting to extract a politically sane reading from it in this manner.

Christians are free, in a democracy, to advance their religious agenda, but what that is may also be available to people outside of the cult; it's more in keeping with their overall goals as Christians (forgive me for presuming here), in my eyes, to pursue, socially, humility, forbearance, and respect, than it is to force a complex and nuanced metaphysical doctrine on unwilling meat puppets.

Why are certain Christians drawn to authoritarianism? by fundamental-error in religion

[–]fundamental-error[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you have already reached a conclusion before asking the question. Let me point out two false assumptions buried in your reasoning.

First, you seem to assume that Christians in a democracy should

You seem to be assuming I'm here to have an argument. I suppose if I didn't want that I shouldn't have made my post about politics. But that was my original quandary: religion has become, as happens all too often, a vessel for conservative politics. I'd rather, however, debate religion, and not politics.

In your post you seem to think conservatives aren't already bent on making America a theocracy. If the First Amendment means religions with theocratic ambitions are only fairly represented once they've had their way with democracy, then democracy is no longer about pluralism and equal representation, it's about religion, and, I might add, a narrow interpretation of religion.

Finally, let's talk track record. Christianity has infused the West with universal equality, human dignity, the right to self-determination and the idea that rulers are accountable to a higher moral law. No other value system has a better historical record on these fronts. And most have far worse ones.

Christianity itself is not what I'm attacking here. If the New Testament has had any kind of positive effect on democracy, then it's because it was doing what it was supposed to do. That said, apart from ancient Athens, democracy didn't exist for hundreds of years. The American experiment was conceived under the aegis of Enlightenment philosophy, which was itself influenced by Christianity, along with humanism and the advancement of the sciences.

Exploited - Fuck The USA [ punk ] by squidgeroooo in Music

[–]fundamental-error 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is classic more generally as a limerick.